CBC's Radio Runners tell Jonna what they want to hear her say when they cross the finish line Part2

by Vanessa Blanch10/24/2013 3:26:39 PM

CBC's Radio Runners tell Jonna what they want her to say when they cross the finish line Part1

by Vanessa Blanch10/24/2013 3:24:29 PM

WEEK 9

Monday night was our final Running Room clinic before race day and naturally we were talking about how we will all prepare for our first 5K. Kris and Roxanne shared their best advice: stick with what you know! As always they had horror stories from people who have taken the wrong approach. So, in a nutshell, before the big race, don't eat anything you aren't used to, get a good night of sleep on Friday night and be organized. That means laying out your weather appropriate clothes for the run the night before.

Information Morning host Jonna Brewer will be announcing the runners at Legs for Literacy at the finish line with CBC News New Brunswick at 5 and 6 host Harry Forestell on Sunday. So to prepare Jonna, I collected some great tape from all of the members of the CBC Radio Runners on Monday night. They told Jonna how she will be able to recognize them, and what they'd like to hear her say when they cross the finish line. If you missed this on the show you can listen here.

I just wanted to send a big thank-you out to Michael Coleman who surprised the CBC Radio Runners with Booster Juice after our run on Monday night. He brought 20 large smoothies - mango hurricane and tropical tornado - and as you can see they were a big hit with the eight of us who turned out. (that's 2+ smoothies per runner - no need to eat supper) Since he had extras the folks at the Running Room enjoyed a 'boost' as well and my son also got a treat on Monday night.Booster Juice is a sponsor of the 5k race at Legs for Literacy.

Next week I'm going to help out CBC Information Morning host Jonna Brewer. She will be at the Legs for Literacy event along with Harry Forestell of CBC television to call the race and has been told to 'brush up on her running lingo.' I'm going to ask the members of our team what they want to hear Jonna and Harry say as they cross the finish line. We're almost there!

by Vanessa Blanch10/9/2013 12:25:57 PM

Week 3 of training for Legs for Literacy and a couple of themes are emerging:

1/ Committment 2/ Pacing

On Labour Day five of us turned out for a holiday morning run along with our Running Room trainer extraordinaire Kris Acker. I brought along my recorder with big plans for interviews with members of the CBC Radio Runners.

Kris and team members Jackie MacNichol, Bill Godfrey and Terri Simon were all great sports and did interviews with me as we ran along the trail. Terri's husband Con showed off his sprinting skills, she told me, in hopes of avoiding my microphone (I will get you and Sheida next week Con!).

Bill told me about his new sneakers which have replaced his last battered pair with the hole that exposed his big toe. Terri told me how great she felt after finishing the run and Jackie and I agreed that the committment to running three times every week was a big part of the challenge.

Unfortunately my right hand, which was holding the recorder, was slowly nudging the record level dial downwards with every stride. By the end of the run the tape was rolling, but you couldn't hear a thing. Arghhhh! I will try again on Monday.

I went out for my second run of the week on Wednesday evening. I am not a big fan of big crowds but I had a great time. Our team even had some extra company from a running club in Riverview.

Kendra and some of her team members are big CBC fans and wanted to join us which was awesome! (We will be working on converting the rest of their team to 106.1 fans as the weeks go on, :))

We're now up to two minutes of running and one minute of walking, seven times. It's hard to imagine we're going to make it to ten minutes of running.

The last parting bit of wisdom from Kris last night, as I was telling her I felt like I COULD do one more round of walking/running...you shouldn't keep going until you feel like throwing yourself onto the pavement and puking (okay - I said the puking part not Kris). We want to finish with a little gas in the tank.

I'm looking forward to Sunday morning and our next clinic on Monday. So far I believe we can do it!